


Water

by Sigrid20002



Series: Slowtember 2020 [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: "water", Caring Roronoa Zoro, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Thriller Bark, Slowtember 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26318947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sigrid20002/pseuds/Sigrid20002
Summary: After Thriller Bark the strawhats visit Spa Island to relax a little. Zoro assumes, Thriller Bark is behind them and there is nothing to think about anymore. It seems like Luffy disagrees.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro
Series: Slowtember 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1909006
Comments: 10
Kudos: 107





	Water

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my take for the Slowtember, created by [élod](https://twitter.com/megaelod) on Twitter! It's a challenge to write (or in the original draw) a piece each three days!
> 
> I will continue to write shipping OS, but I will choose them randomly :P
> 
> If you want to check out the Slowtember challenge, do it [here](https://twitter.com/megaelod/status/1299348851405590528) !!

Luffy jumps up and down in excitement. “Come oooon! I want to go into the pool already!”

“Have a little patience, will you?” Nami sighs and shakes her head, before paying the man on the counter. Not even half the original price, but Nami has her ways of haggling the price down until she is satisfied. 

Then they are allowed to step into the waterpark. Luffy insisted on coming here, when they heard this new island had a waterpark and after their latest fight on Thriller Bark, they really need some time to relax and refresh their strength, so noone had any objections.

So now they are prepared with all kinds of toys and water guns, as well as a lot of towels and sunscreen and everything else the responsible people in the crew have packed. Sanji even prepared some snacks to enjoy, but since breakfast has just been over and Luffy is too excited at the sight of all the water slides, that the captain doesn’t nag him yet.

They all enjoy their time here differently. Nami, Robin and Brook are laying on their towels in the sun and try to get a little tan - even though Zoro doubts Brook will get much tan, considering he is just bones, but he learned anything can happen and he shouldn’t be too surprised.

Franky is chilling on a chair with a cool cola in his hands and sunglasses on his nose watching the others in the pool, while the stupid cook is dancing around the girls.

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper didn’t wait and jumped right into the water - of course the devil fruit users do make sure they don’t drown, even if it’s not that deep, but better to be careful.

“Zoro! Join us!” Luffy calls out from inside the pool and waves at the swordsman. Zoro sighs and takes a seat at one of the deckchairs, ignoring the calling. He’s here to relax, so he’s gonna take a nap and nothing will keep him from that.

He puts his hands behind his head and closes his eyes, letting out another, more relaxing sigh.He can feel the sun burning on his skin, but he isn’t worried. He rarely gets sunburns at all. It’s far from quiet around here, with people talking, kids screaming and others jumping into the pool. But it’s a noise Zoro got accustomed to, especially with Luffy around. The captain is always jumping around and demanding constant entertainment. At least most of the time.

And then there are the times, where Luffy just sits on Sunny’s head and looks out into the sea, a small smile on his lips. Zoro never disturbs him, when he is like that, but he watches him. He doesn’t really know why, but maybe that’s also something he grew accustomed to. To look after Luffy, make sure he’s got Luffy’s back.

He can hear his captain whine, because Zoro chose to ignore him, but he also doesn’t react to that. Instead he can feel how his mind is beginning to slip into a peaceful sleep.

Then something hits his face and water splashes all over him. He can hear Nami gasp in shock and even the cook stops in his track, surprised by the sudden attack against the swordsman.

Zoro slowly cracks an eye open and he can hear Usopp shriek. The longnosed guy can probably feel the threatening aura of his crewmate, after the water balloon hit Zoro. 

But contrary to his initial belief it hasn’t been the sharpshoother but Luffy, grinning from ear to ear as if to challenge Zoro, another water balloon still in his other hand. “Captain’s orders,” he says. “Come in here!”

“Oh, you’re on, captain!” Zoro growls lowly and gets up from his seat immediately. Luffy laughs and already tries to get away, when Zoro dives into the water head first. He’s gonna kill him now! This is the day he finally takes his revenge on Luffy.

When he comes back to the surface, Luffy didn’t manage to swim very far. It takes him just a few strong strokes to get to Luffy, just as the strawhat stretches his hand to grab something to pull himself out of the water and away from Zoro, but he doesn’t get that far, because Zoro tackles him from behind and pushes him further under water, despite his water wings. Luffy’s arm goes numb and falls back into the water as well, while he’s trying to push himself up again. 

Zoro isn’t totally ruthless, so he lets his captain get up after a few seconds, even if he still got him in his grip. Luffy takes a deep breath and is trapped between laughing and coughing.

“Now, captain. I’m in the pool, what now?”" Zoro asks and raises an eyebrow, but he doesn’t expect Luffy to turn around and wrap his arms around him tight. 

“Shishishi, I got you now!” He also wraps his legs around Zoro and grins at him widely, despite the fact that Zoro almost drowned him two seconds ago. It probably speaks of the trust that his captain puts into his first mate. They both know, Zoro could never hurt Luffy serious. Not only that the strawhat would probably kick Zoro’s butt if he tried - it would be hard, but Zoro doesn’t think he would win a serious fight against his captain - but also because Zoro already proved, that he would sacrifice his dream if it meant saving his captain.

Luffy does know about it. Zoro didn’t want him to, but somehow Luffy found out what happened on Thriller Bark. Probably not in detail, but he knows enough. He never mentioned it, though.

Zoro has been worrying about Luffy’s reaction, didn’t want Luffy to feel guilty or responsible for what happened. But Zoro has also realized that this isn’t the case. Luffy probably doesn’t like, what Zoro did for him, mostly because he hates seeing his crewmates in pain, but they both survived. They are here and they are well and that’s why neither Luffy nor Zoro regret Thriller Bark. It’s a closed chapter for both of them now. And if anything, their relationship only grew stronger through these experiences. 

Zoro looks up to his captain, who is clinging on him like a monkey. “You’ve got me,” Zoro repeats, a smirk making its way to his lips. “And now?”

“Now you gotta kiss me,” Luffy states without missing a beat. “Captain’s orders.”

“You’re quite noisy today, captain,” Zoro replies with a smile, but he pulls Luffy closer and their lips meet in a soft kiss. Luffy wraps his arms around Zoro’s neck now, deepening the kiss himself. Zoro would be lying if he said he doesn’t love how Luffy takes control of the kiss and the situation, not allowing Zoro to pull back until Luffy decides he can.

That’s why it’s Luffy, leaning back first, but he’s still close to Zoro. He doesn’t want to let go yet. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Zoro says visibly amused. “It was your order, wasn’t it?”

“That’s not what I meant.” Luffy looks at Zoro with such a serious face, that the swordsman frowns now and his playful smile vanishes. “I meant Thriller Bark.”

Zoro closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Maybe it wasn’t a closed chapter after all. Of all the times they could have this talk, Luffy decided to do it right here, right now. He will probably never understand Luffy fully.

“I didn’t do it for you to thank me,” Zoro says and grimaces. He doesn’t even like Luffy thanking him for that. It’s.. uncomfortable, because it’s not necessary. It doesn’t feel right.

He doesn’t expect the hit to his head though. “Ow! Are you crazy?? What was that for?!” Zoro rubs his head and looks at his captain in disbelief, but quickly realizes that Luffy is still dead serious, so he swallows his curses. 

“I’m not thanking you for that, idiot!” Luffy claims and it’s almost hurtful to be insulted as idiot from a rubberbrain like Luffy.

“Then what are you saying?!” Zoro asks now visibly irritated and he pouts. 

But when Luffy hugs him, he finds himself wrapping his arms around his captain as well. It hits him then, what Luffy is trying to get at, and he is an idiot for not realizing sooner. He smiles a little and ruffles his captain’s hair. They are both not the best at words sometimes. They are both too blunt, the stupid cook would probably say simple-minded, but that’s usually why Luffy and Zoro understand each other without many words.

“You’re welcome,” Zoro mutters against Luffy’s ear, his eyes closed again. “You know, I’m not going anywhere... You wouldn’t let me.” Luffy nods, but he still presses himself more against Zoro. He’s sure some of the water splashed against his face earlier, because it runs down his cheeks now.

Zoro holds him close as long as Luffy needs him to, he doesn’t care how long that might be. Luffy’s unspoken words are ringing loudly in his mind. _’Thank you for surviving.’_

Maybe the chapter isn’t closed yet. But he’s sure continuing their voyage will help sealing it. He just has to get stronger.


End file.
